Post articles to awesome, interesting, ludicrous, or stupid tech-related things. This is like our "Best and Worst of the Internet" thread, but more focused on computer stuff.
I'll start. Last weekend Jascveus and I were musing about computers, AI, and the like. He mentioned that Windows did some sort of "guess what you'll do next" prediction. Honestly, this seemed far-fetched when first mentioned...I hadn't ever heard of such a thing. But it does indeed exist; it's called Superfetch (http://www.osnews.com/story/21471/SuperFetch_How_it_Works_Myths). (I came across it the very next day while trying to diagnose some nasty Win7 slowdown issues on a family member's computer).
It was introduced in Vista and is essentially a RAM-preloading scheduler based on historical data (what programs you tend to launch when). Sure, that takes the magic and mystery out of how I perceived it in our original conversation, but a good thing to know about nonetheless.
Quick overview: http://www.osnews.com/story/21471/SuperFetch_How_it_Works_Myths
So it is indeed true? Intriguing. It is also somewhat creepy to think the computer is predicting what my next action will be based on previous use of applications. Though I suppose in reality that isn't all that surprising. People are creatures of habit so the saying goes and I don't find it any sort of stretch that a computer notices we do the exact same thing day after day...oh we are so boring and not random aren't we?
It is intriguing indeed. And a good idea. I'm highly predictable and only ever routinely maybe a dozen applications. Services are another story, whose schedule could be even more predictable.
Not too creepy though. It's basically just an activity log...but reversed!